The Medical group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Merck & Co. (MRK Quick QuoteMRK - Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? Let's take a closer look at the stock's year-to-date performance to find out.

Merck & Co. is one of 763 individual stocks in the Medical sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #11 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank considers 16 different sector groups. The average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups is measured, and the sectors are listed from best to worst.

The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. MRK is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for MRK's full-year earnings has moved 1.65% higher. This signals that analyst sentiment is improving and the stock's earnings outlook is more positive.

Based on the most recent data, MRK has returned 10.06% so far this year. At the same time, Medical stocks have gained an average of 1.09%. This means that Merck & Co. is outperforming the sector as a whole this year.

Looking more specifically, MRK belongs to the Large Cap Pharmaceuticals industry, which includes 14 individual stocks and currently sits at #108 in the Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks in this group have lost about 2.06% so far this year, so MRK is performing better this group in terms of year-to-date returns.

MRK will likely be looking to continue its solid performance, so investors interested Medical stocks should continue to pay close attention to the company.